THE BIG APPLE. It has been my dream for years and finally last April I had the chance to spend 3 days and 4 nights there. It was so weird to be in New York City, because it was different from what I've imagined.

DAY 1

The very first day of my trip I had a walking tour from the old Library to the Rockefeller Center. Then, I reached Central Park, I saw the angel and the Imagine sign. After that, I visited the Metropolitan Museum. Before having dinner at Hard Rock Café, I had an Hip Hop class, which, according to me and my friends, is a must when you are in NYC.

DAY 2

I went to the top of the Empire State Building, the view was breathtaking for a guy who loves the city. I had lunch at the Grand Central Terminal. I saw the bull of Wall Street, the World Trade Center and I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. I had some free time in SoHo and I walked through Little Italy. I concluded the day having dinner in Chinatown.

DAY 3

I took the ferry and I.. saw the Statue of Liberty! To be honest I thought it was bigger, but it has been awesome anyways. I had lunch and a little of free time in Times Square (where my friend and I saw a guy stealing two luggages). I went to the American Museum of Natural History and then I had dinner at an Italian-American restaurant. Our night ended with a Broadway Show, The Phantom of The Opera.

Today I am going to write the first post about Places to Visit, and I want to start with Hawaii. It is one of the most beautiful places I've been so far. Starting with Honolulu, I will also tell you about Kauai and its breathtaking coast.

HONOLULU

I stayed one night at the Royal Hawaiian in Honolulu, on Oahu Island. It is known as the Pink Place of the Pacific. It is one of the first hotels in Waikiki and it hosted a lot of famous people. I had the opportunity to surf right in front of it and it has been amazing. To conclude the day in Honolulu I had dinner on The Top of Waikiki, which is a revolving restaurant, so I got a 360° view while eating.

The morning after, before I flew out to Kauai, I went to the Arizona Memorial. It marks the resting place of sailors and Marines killed on USS Arizona during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7th, 1941.

I stayed at the Grand Hyatt Kauai for a week. I had the opportunity to visit the Kipu Ranch on ATVs and it was super fun! I reccomend to do it if you go to Kauai, and remember to dress properly because if it rains it gets muddy.

Kipu Ranch Adventures, Lihue.

The other thing I did was going on a cruise along the Na Pali Coast. It is wonderful. The colors are beautiful, there are a lot of waterfalls and rainbows, I saw the dolphins and the sunset.. I mean if you can and you don't get seasick, do it!

In Hawaii you also have to eat a lot of fish, get pupus and go to luau parties! I am sure you can do tons of stuff in Hawaii, I shared what was my experience, If you have something to add feel free to do so below.

Hawaiian words:
Aloha = Love / Greeting
Mahalo = Thanks
Lei = Necklace of flowers or shells
Ohana = Family
Wai = Water
Pua = Flower
Pua'a = Pig

PS. I wanted to thank my American family to let all of this happen!
NEXT ON PLACES TO VISIT: NEW YORK CITY.

- Cris

Is it like in movies? Well, It is I guess, except the musical part, which appears only if you take drama or choir.

I honestly miss being in that school, even tho during my exchange year I didn't love it that much.. It was pretty small. It was actually a campus, so there were two buildings, one for elementary and middle schools and one for high school. It was fun to get in a car and go somewhere for lunch, to go to football games on fridays and to be part of other activities. At the beginning of the year the school gave a cookie to every new and foreign student, so that was nice. They organized also an orientation so I got to see the building before the first day.

My senior trip lasted 2 days and 1 night. People could go skiing for an afternoon or stay at the complex. We had a bonfire because it was snowing and it has been awesome.

My school one time organized a camp out of school for senior class 2015, so we got to grill our dinner and sleep in tents right outside the entrance.

Okay guys, today I want to let you know why I am NOT excited to go back to school here in my home country. First of all, for the new viewers, I am from Italy. And school here kind of... sucks. I am not the only one saying it just because I am Italian, but all the exchange students here told me it is the worst. A lot of Italians right now are dealing with repair exams, so... good luck guys!

Before starting, if you are an exchange student and you are going to spend a year in Italy, don't worry because most of the foreign people sleep in class. Lol.

You cannot check your phone (even looking at the time is not allowed). The rule is that you shouldn't even bring it to school, but everyone does. You cannot eat in class, food but not even chewing-gum. And I say this because at my American high school I saw students bringing plastic bags with any snack possible, even corn flakes!
Often teachers choose your desk in class so that you don't sit next to your friend and talk. Students have a little notebook where they have to keep track of grades and information school gives. Teachers also use it to communicate with the family of the student. If your behavior is inappropriate, they write it in the book.
You cannot leave the school during the day until school's over, usually at 1 or 2 pm. You are not allowed to leave for lunch, you cannot even call a delivery guy and receive a pizza. You can skip the first block if you need to but, when you enter the classroom at the beginning of the second, you need to specify why you were absent. If you go to school later than the second block, your parents need to be with you (unless you are eighteen).
Restrooms usually have squat toilets, and they are normally dirty. The school itself isn't usually a great building. We still use chalk on the blackboard, only a few schools have smart boards. Normally we don't even have cafeterias. My school, for example, had a "bar" in a little room, which sold like sandwiches and drinks for our breaks.
There are no activities, no sports, no drama and... no school dances. Yes guys, no prom. Students are not involved at school at all and there is no school spirit, there is no mascotte.
Grades go from 1 to 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. It is really hard to get a 10 though.
Teachers test you also orally. Usually, there is a speaking section for each chapter of the textbook. So Italians have a lot of homework and they study hours every day to succeed and not fail tests.